A helping hand for wildlife

Paul Tillsley - Head of Conservation & Education

Two of the most evocative sounds at this time of year are the kronking of Ravens and the mewing of Common Buzzards. Both birds nest on the League sanctuaries and both compete for territory and airspace. The aerial acrobatics and courtship displays of ravens contrast with the apparently nonchalant circling displays of buzzards, but when they are in competition then feathers are certain to fly. Sadly, both bird species are still illegally and unjustly persecuted by gamekeepers and livestock farmers because they are opportunist scavengers.

Other signs that spring is on its way are everywhere. Much of the frogspawn in the various ponds on the League sanctuaries has turned into tadpoles. Now newts have joined them in the ponds and they are busy breeding whilst snacking on the odd tadpole. Slowworms also venture out of their hideaways on sunny days to bask beneath the corrugated metal sheets that have been laid down especially for them. Meanwhile, outside my window a female Blackbird is frantically collecting materials for the nest she is building in a large conifer.

We have just sited fifty newly constructed nesting boxes for Hazel Dormice in Brockhole Wood as part of the National Dormouse Monitoring Programme. Made from untreated timber to avoid the risk of poisoning the dormice we are trying to help, these boxes don’t last long in the mild and wet West Country climate and so they need regularly replacing. This isn’t a five minute job, but it is very rewarding when you find a torpid dormouse and have it curled up in your hand. These endearing little rodents used to be so common and widespread that people would keep them as pets, but now due to habitat loss they are largely restricted to the south of England and the Welsh borders and they are heavily protected. We are fortunate that Hazel Dormice are thriving on the League’s wildlife sanctuaries and hopefully when they come out of hibernation in May some will make use of their new homes.

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Positive measures to protect animals have been announced by the government today. The Animal Welfare Bill 2018 includes an increase in sentencing for animal abuse from a maximum of six months jail to five years, and also states that animal sentience must be recognised in any future laws.

Related

This blog post corrects many errors published in a December 2017 Metro’s article about fox hunting, in which it confuses trail hunting, drag hunting and clean boot hunting. The post sets the record straight regarding recent incidents of hunt violence and intimidation, and rebukes some of the mistruths perpetuated by the pro-hunt lobby.

Tally Ho! Is not a shout you expect to hear in Scotland. But that’s what a team of the League’s investigators recorded a huntsman shouting as he encouraged his pack of hounds after a fox in the Scottish Borders earlier this year.

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As a team, we share the same passion – to stop animal cruelty in the name of sport. We are a tight knit team and we work hard within a fun, relaxed environment. We also offer something many employers don’t – an office full of friendly dogs!

Hunting was banned in England and Wales in 2004, but the law has never been properly enforced, and attempts to weaken or repeal it continue. The hunting law in Scotland is weak, and hunting is still legal in Northern Ireland.

Hurting and killing animals for ‘sport’ is one of the principal causes of animal cruelty in the UK: tens of millions suffer and die each year for ‘leisure’ activities. We’re here to protect those animals.

Bullfighting is perhaps the most well known spectator “sport” involving the killing of animals for entertainment. It has already been banned in most countries, but each year tens of thousands of bulls are maimed, tortured and killed for entertainment in Spain, Portugal, France, Colombia, Mexico, USA, Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru.

The hidden side of greyhound racing includes dogs kept for long periods in lonely kennels, painful injuries from racing and training, illness and neglect. Shockingly, thousands of surplus dogs die or disappear every year. The League believes dogs should not suffer or die for entertainment or for the profit of the dog racing industry.

The Hunting Act 2004 is the law which bans chasing wild mammals with dogs in England and Wales – this basically means that fox hunting, deer hunting, hare hunting, hare coursing and mink hunting are all illegal, as they all are cruel sports based on dogs chasing wild mammals.